Incorporating cords in rubber sheets



BEST AVNLABLE c0P No 2 I T. MIDGLEY INCORPORATING CORDS 1N RUBBER SHEETSFiled Nov. 10, 1922 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 ll .5 26 g fig. 4

INVENTOR ATTORN $027104 filmy;

BEST AVASLABLE com Nov. 2 1926. 1,605,453

' T. MIDGLEY INCORPORATING CORDS 1N RUBBER SHEETS Filed Nov. 10, 1922 2Sheets-Sheet 2 44 Y/Zia lay ATTOR Patented Nov. 2, 1926.

.IKUNVITED STATES BEST AVAILABLE COP\ PATENT OFFICE.

THOMAS MIDGLEY,-OF HAMPDEN, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO THE FISK RUBBERCOMPANY, OF CHICOPEE FALLS, MASSACHUSETTS, A CORPORATION OF MASSA-CHUSETTS.

INCORPORATING, CORDS IN RUBBER SHEETS.

Application filed November 19, 1922. Serial No. 599,976.

My present invention relates to the 1nanufacture of cordfabric, in whicha plurality of otherwise unconnected'parallel cords are embedded in amatrix sheet of rubber.

It has'for its object a method of producing weftless-cord fabric bywhich accurate coatingof the ,entire sheet of cords will be obtainable,the coating of both sides of the sheet of cords and the trimming ofexcess rubber therefrom expedited, and the starting and" stopping of thecoating operation facilitated. It has other and'further objectsrelating" to"the improvement of the manufacture of weftless, cord fabricwhich 15 will appear "from the following description and-claims.

' My, invention will" now 'be described in connection with" theaccompanying drawings, in Which Fig. 1 is a side elevation of acalender,

.partly broken'away, illustrating the invention;. I

L Fig. 2 is a front elevation thereof, partly broken away;.

a Fig. 3 is an enlarged sectional detail of certain cord guidingdevices;

Fig. 4 is a plan of certaincord guiding Fig. 5.is an enlarged sectionaldetail illus 0 trating the'manner' in which the cords are guidedintocontact with the rubber sheet;

Figs. 6 to 9"are diagrammatic views illusftrating the manner ofdiscontinuing the production. of cord fabric 35 Figs. 10 to 12 aresimilar views illustrating the starting of the operation of producingcord fabric; and

' Fig. 13 is a front elevation corresponding to a portionof Fig. 6.

" I have illustrated the method as being carried out on a three-rollcalender having cord guiding devices similar to those shown on afour-roll calender in my copending application, Serial No. 481,549,filed June 30,

- 1921. The present method in one of its aspects is designed to carryout the coating of both sides of a sheet of parallel cords up on athree-roll calender, and to that end any suitable cord guiding devicesmay be em- W ployed which will locate the cords in proper relation uponthe first rubber sheet. The devicesshown in such copending applicationare, however, preferred, and will be de scribed.

The calender is composed of three'roIlls, 25, 26, and '27, between theupper two of which is placed a feed of rubber 28. The action of therolls forms-this rubber'intofa sheet 29, which passes around the middleroll 26. To this middle roll isfsupplied a series of cords in anydesired-manner, conveniently substantially that illustrated in thecopending case referred to." Briefly "stated, this means comprises-acreel or other source of supply (not shown) for individual cords 30,from which the cords Passover heating rolls 31 maintained at a"temperature hot enough to cause the cords to adhere better to thelater-applied rubber. After'leaving the last heating roll the cordsdivide into two groups, passing over groovedrolls 32 and 33respectively. Theserolls, -'together with a pressure roll 34having'double the number of grooves, and on, which the two groups ofcords again ,-unite, are

mounted on a carriage 35 sliding inways 36' suitably mounted on theframe 'ofthe calender. In Fig. 3 the rolls are shown in full lines in aretracted or inoperative position, and in dotted lines (also in F ig.'5)in the advanced position in which they press the cords against therubber sheet'29 on calender roll 26. Roll 34 is preferably driven by asuitable chain drive 37 from the 'lower calender roll through a clutchconnection 38, as fully described in said copending application, at asurface speed equal to or slightly less than roll 26,so that the cordsare directed to the rubber sheet smoothly and. in the latter case, undera slight ironing or tensioning action due to the difference in speeds.Control of the position of the rolls 32, 33. and 34, is had through .ahandwheel 39, the shaft of which (Fig. 3) connects, by worm gearing 40,with a screw 41 fixed in the ways 36 and threaded into carriage 35.

The preferred manner of delivering the composite sheet from the calenderand trimming its edge portions embraces knives 42 mounted on suitablesupports adjacent roll 26 in a manner known in the art of operatingcalenders (see, for example, the patent to Lewis 1,151,527, August 24,1915), and set so as to cut the rubber at each side of the series ofcords. Beyond the knives is an idler roller 43 preferably smaller thanthe roll 26, and over which the trimmed the m betw n 1th composite sheetof cord fabric 44 passes, the a n Bastien- 4. (E s- 3)v i u be p s x i9. r ba n o feed 2 hi directing of the sheet and the marginal portionsalong abruptly diverging paths "in sures atoll rate ti iiniiiing andreduces to a minimum both the stretching of the' rubbe'r -edema. c mmen'b' .ni de a .-.s ee"' l e et e Jio that r 35. 1 .fefetebl iea e d lescen e t v the s eet .29-tmmue Pre s th mele Bless o e le' tj e Pe sa t eery muse space o ller rd to t av e erf-a .ef lth jwlla d h 1 4, bersheet. "The desired eont'rol'of the roll posse-may be had by tu t ellandwhel e: w pch -e' ie ne ti e wtthofit d rioratiion', this reasonit. is desirable to pifloyidev sp ne manner in the calenessayb.? I predsa t rubber i eords removegl therefrom when the. amount of. r r gs ea eda een 'p d, and'yetwi out so displacing the cords that the resumptionof; e ord' fabrie, production will requirej an arduous stringing upoperation. Furthermore; it is desirable to provide a guiding-apparatuswhich permit of the operation ofthe e a len'der for other purposesduring periods-ht intermission 'be tween runs of cordtabticL The mannerin my invention accomplishes these resultsgwilli no w be described. '4 ii Figs 8, and 9 h'd i e iv ta e in .thesuspension ot the prodnotion ofcord 'ieBrisahd M a dlin t rd Q Pr serve them inrproper, relat on whilethe eelender, i s, being malintaineditemporarily inactive for thispurpose. The first operation is to removse'the feed pt rubher'28, andthe marginal portions 45 ig. 13) ofthe sheet of rubber trinnnedo byknives 4-2 and lying. between rollst3 and the feed 28, leaving,the-calender in: theeondition shown in The: ealender rolls arethen'turned snfiiciently to. carry the end of the rubbersheetf29.,thnorighthe big ht of the two lower calender rolls, 'as shownin Fig. 8. It may be found necessary to close these two rolls weather asstern n F s 8, in Order o seer Av 1LAsLE ooP-. v

rrai nsj; ill? niiddl e calender "roll 26 and hbidstheni a iaih'stdisplacement during the pest operation. cords may now be severedalong a'lineindicated at 46 in Fig. 8, the eluteh .38 shifted todisconnect he drive of 191 t e l we bele lei r t wer d away fti on 'thecords asshohvninlliqi ,9,

- e' lust ng ime he. e l m t .i t ie di his ps e ef s lids r rela i elew in wet f n a: n rr w see, t e h i'ed e fgr pf hewe er; he visi tiftli e xtteh t om- -1- re eevel reet he 99-?!1 sprite-tee severalgroups. In either ns anee the cords emiete esde eli ew F i-J Phat-.firtwy ne he-safelw ta ks e ey-tmmth middle calender rolhas thecords,a-re ;a11-

e eredb t n witl e -seer ltT Ple rnent. This last step,. represent1ngthe. calender ina cti veas to theinalging, of cord fabi'ie, isindica tedi n Fig, 2'. Tith the eo'rds e t pal -rid r. eiib p r ed-t any oth erdesired purpose, as the'co'atiiigof the. composite sheet on its. secondside as will be described, thecoatingf of ordinar fab ri e or produotionotlsheet rubber,

wit iout interference from the cords. orfthe cord guiding devices. It beremarked that the tension under which thecords nora y: c-pert t'i il't ePr d .s i n of cord fabric will serve to take up, he slack that wouldapparently result from thebacking of roll away from the calender. Thestretehgiven vtb the cords in normal operation is considerable, andtheelasticity of the cords prevents ny'slaek forming beween. qll 2. 14 W Inpreparing the apparatusv for the produe tion of eord fabric, a f eed ofrubber is first placed between the-upper two calender rolls, and thecalender operated and its contii wietlt e u e r qp rjrq mperature andsettings :toj have the rubber sheetof the desiredgcoi ditioh andlthickhess. Du ng; iis'p slimine y stage; the eud- 1 i9 ar ke t p e d fr-6m t nder roll. and the. cords tied around shaft: 47 1 s Tl qwle d l ien ped nd roll 3thn1oved up into pressing 011: 61; with the sheet ofrubber. thereby grippingthe series oth eords firmly so that they beuntied from rod without losing their tautness or spacing between roll34; and the cord supply. The cords are now untied, one group at a timeif they have been tied in 'groups because of the widthof the cord sheet,the bottomcalender roll slightly lowcred, and the cords tucked throughthe space between thebottom roll and the rubber sheet. 'If desired,instead of lowering the bottom roll, the cords maybejammed into thebight of the 'two lower rolls and the calender rotated to pull themthrough. The first method, however, gives a better control of the cordsand is generally preferable. In Fig. 11 some of the cord groups havebeen shown as still tied to rod 47 and others as inserted through thecalender rolls. When all the cords have been tucked through, they may bedrawn tight and the bottom roll raised to give the pressure desired inpressing the cords into the rubber sheet. Clutch 38 is then shifted tocouple the roll 34 to its driving devices. The calender is then rununtil the cords have traveled around roll 26 to a point just beyond roll43, the rubber cut, and the composite sheet led around roll 43. Due tothe tight grip maintained on the cords, first by the tying when the roll34 is not in clamping position, and later by the positive clampingaction of roll 34, the cords above the contact line of roll 34 and therubber sheet will be kept in their proper spaced relation. This limitsthe scrap at stopping and starting to the length of cord originally tiedup, a point of great importance in efiicient calender operation. Afterthe sheet has been trimmed, the calender is ready for another run, thelength of-which is dependout only on the amount of material desired,

as new spools can be tied on the creel and additional rubber supplied tofeed 28 without stoppage of the mechanism.

According to another feature of my invention, I improve the manner inwhich the material is handled in case it is desired to apply a rubbercoating to the second side of the composite sheet. The manner oftreatment thus far described will provide the sheet of cords with acoating of rubber on one side, and will force that coating in betweenthem. For most purposes for which this type of material is used,however, it is desirable to have the cords completely coated on bothsides. This can be accomplished eitherby leading the sheet 44 (Fig. 6)directly to a second calender in such a way that the rubber sheeted outby that calender will be pressed against the then uncovered side of thecords, or the sheet may be rolled up after the original coatingoperation and passed again through the calender while the cords are tiedback as in Fig. 9. It is to the latter manner of handling that thisfeature of invention particularly relates.

It is desirable, both in order to avoid waste of material and asubsequent trimming operation to make the sheet ready for use, to trimthe sheet on the calender so that only a predetermined amount of rubberpro BEST AVAILABLE col sheet. This is accomplished during the firstcoating operation by knives 42, and as the cords are definitelypositioned under ten- -sion in registration with the calender, no

trouble is experienced in causing this trim to "b'e'accurately made.Care is necessary in the second coating operation, however, as inordinary methods of handling, the partially coated cord fabric has nodefinite registration with respect to the calender, and accuratetrimming is a matter of considerable difficulty. By the feature of myinvention at present under consideration however, proper registration isinsured without constant attention on the part of the operator.

The composite sheet 44 resulting from the first coating operation isdelivered from roll 43 to a wind-up drum (Fig. 1), preferably powerdriven as is customary with calender wind-up devices, and mounted sothat it will not have any endwise motion. A liner 51 is fed undertension from a spool 52 between the convohrtions of the cord fabricsheet on the drum 50 so as to prevent the adjacent turns stickingtogether. After all the material has been run that is desired, or thatcan conveniently be mounted on drum 50, the sheet is severed and thecords tied back as previously described with reference to Fig. 9. Thecalender is now made ready to deliver stock of the gauge and qualitydesired for the second coat. For this second coating operation, thepartially finished sheet 44 is led from drum 50 under the bottomcalender roll 27, around a guide roll 53, and between the two bottomcalender rolls, where it is pressed against a rubber sheet formed by theupper pair of rolls. The finished sheet, indicated by 54 in Fig. 1, isled around roll 43 and delivered to any suitable wind-up device. Theliner 51 is during this operation rerolled upon roll 52, which may beactuated by any suitable wind-up device.

It will be noted that the registration of sheet 44 with the calender isnever disturbed during the two oalendering operations, and that noresetting of the drum 50 is required. In this manner the sheet 44 willbe delivered to the second coating operation in a definite position, towhich the knives 42 can be readily accommodated, insuring accuracy intrimming.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. A method of facilitating the handling of a series of cords in thetemporary stopping of the operation of producing weftless cord fabricupon a calender, which comprises clamping the series of cords to onecalender roll, severing the cords between the clamping point and thefinished sheet, securing the free cord ends thus formed at a point outof cp tact with the calender mil s, and .Lmclgtmpi-ng the-001315 fromthe calen er rell fi vherehy the cords are held Out of interference withthe cale der 2. A methqddf fqcilitgti g the handling ,p-f a pi cords inthe temporafy stopph1glo'f the operatign f procliicingweftless 1&9545

mz a bic-1 9 1 len t n h ch-c0 1 {prises clamping the series of cords,severing the cords 'bet'weep the clamping point and the fihished sheet,securing the free cord en ds thus formed, and unclamping the THQMASMIDGLEY.

